PSV director John de Jong has revealed that Leeds United’s Victor Orta “flew in” to discuss a deal for Cody Gakpo before the summer transfer window closed.
Gakpo was linked with several Premier League clubs during the summer.
Leeds United and Southampton targeted him late on following PSV’s exit from the Champions League at the hands of Rangers.
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Interest was bound to come after the winger was involved in 25 goals in the league last term in 27 outings.
PSV are said to value their attacker at around £37m and they were not keen on letting him go on deadline day.
The Dutch club’s director has revealed that “Leeds United’s director flew in and talked to” Gakpo. Presumably, De Jong is referring to Orta.
The clubs were unable to agree a deal but Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani has already confirmed that they will “continue to work” to sign Gakpo, with a January transfer seemingly on the cards.
De Jong has confirmed that PSV “listened to Leeds” but “no concrete offer” arrived:
“Leeds United’s director flew in and talked to Cody,” De Jong told Voetbal International.
“We received and listened to Leeds, but in the end, no concrete offer was put on the table where we thought we should sell it now.
“I think everyone knows that a club has to make an outgoing transfer every year. That’s in the budget. So did we, but in the end, there was not such a good offer on the table that we really considered letting him go.”
Speaking more generally about how the transfer window impacted Gakpo and the club, De Jong added: “It’s hard, it was hard for Cody too. We got together on Thursday morning to discuss it.”
De Jong also revealed that Manchester United’s interest in Gakpo “faded” towards the end of the window.
This came as the Red Devils tempted Ajax to sell Antony to them for a fee that could rise to £84.8m.
De Jong added: “Manchester United signed up at the beginning of the transfer period. They expressed their interest. But after that, it took a long time.
“In the end, as management, we had talks with United between the games against Rangers.
“Then it seemed to get more concrete, but that faded and at the end of the window the option to sell him to United was no longer there.”
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